Chapter 52: Mewtwo's Trait Enhancement!

However, without waiting for Musashi and Kojiro to explain,

"Hahaha!" "Hahaha!"

A burst of laughter came from behind, and the trio's expressions hardened,

quietly popping their heads out at the corner,

only to meet the solemn faces of Ash and Daigo, who seemed to be in conversation.

The others also seemed to sense something and looked over with puzzlement.

"Is something the matter?"

"Um…"

Team Rocket: (⊙_⊙)?

Could it be that the three of them collectively hallucinated?

Weren't Ash and Daigo just laughing a moment ago?

Come to think of it, Daigo is a noble lad; how could he be so unrefined?

"It's nothing!"

"We won't disturb you, I'm leaving!"

The three waved repeatedly, and just as they turned the corner,

"Hahaha…" "Hahaha…"!

Another burst of laughter came, and the trio popped their heads out again.

Yet what greeted them was still Ash and Daigo's unsmiling, serious expressions, as if indeed the three of them were hallucinating.

Seeming to notice the trio's gaze,

Ash looked over, puzzled and serious, "What's up? Anything else?"

"No, nothing."

The trio quickly shook their heads and fled the scene.

Running, they still raised a hand to rub their heads, suspecting that the stress had caused a hallucination.

This time the three went straight to the foot of the mountain before beginning to share the news.

They learned the whole story from Musashi and Kojiro,

Meowmeow: "Meow meow meow???"

Meowmeow was so shocked by the news from Musashi's mouth that they lost their native tongue.

"Hey, hey, I'm telling Musashi, should we contact headquarters about this and confirm, meow?"

"No way!" Musashi immediately vetoed,

Kojiro nodded in agreement, "Exactly, Ash's officer told us this is trust in us; how could we ask our superiors?"

"Exactly! Moreover, what if that watermelon‑skin glasses woman beside Boss Sakaki learns the stuff she shouldn't?"

"Boss Sakaki and Ash's officer trust us, which is why they let us provide cover,

so even if our mission fails, they'll still fund us,

anyway, we must at least live up to our superiors' trust."

"So that's how it is, meow. Then let's start drafting the next plan to capture Pikachu, meow!"

They watched the Team Rocket trio vanish completely from sight,

Daigo, out of curiosity, looked at Ash,

"Those three are still stuck to you as always?"

"Of course…"

"I really don't know what charm you have that makes them travel miles to find you."

As they spoke,

Daigo saw Serena and Clemont and Yurie's curiosity and nervousness,

and quickly waved his hand,

"Team Rocket has known me and Ash before, even helped us; we were just joking just now."

The three finally breathed a sigh of relief,

"So that's it…"

Clemont then exclaimed, "So realistic! I really believed it, even broke out in cold sweat behind me."

"Ha!" Ash chuckled,

At that moment,

Latias flew out of the room.

Ash asked with a smile, "Is everything healed?"

"Mm~" Latias nodded.

Ash, smiling under Daigo's envy, reached out to gently pat Latias's head.

……

After this, Ash contacted Junsha to come over,

and conveniently Junsha was patrolling nearby, arriving swiftly,

After assessing the situation, Junsha immediately contacted headquarters, dispatched more police, and while pulling away the criminals, also rescued this group of Pokémon in need.

During this time,

Daigo finally learned what small favor Ash had asked him to help with.

The two went to a nearby town, where Daigo used a teleportation device to summon two Pokémon that met Ash's requirements as opponents.

In an outdoor battle field in the town,

Da Wu sent out two Pokémon, one Gym Leader-level, one Elite Four-level, all were instantly killed by Mewtwo, but this result did not affect Da Wu.

After all,

the same thing could be done by sending out his main team Pokémon.

Although Steven now, due to experiencing Instant Teleportation when they met, realized that Mewtwo's strength surpassed his ace Metagross,

but he did not know exactly how much stronger it was,

and whether this gap could be made up by Mega Evolution.

Therefore, his Mind still held the idea of defeating Ash.

But at the same time, "What's the point of doing this?"

Steven showed a puzzled expression,

"Of course there is meaning, but…… the reason is temporarily kept secret."

Saying that, Ash glanced at Mewtwo's current completed enhancement trait,

【Trait】: Pressure 2 (gives opponent pressure, small chance to make opponent flinch; each minute reduces opponent's all stats by 1)

To trigger the all-stats -1, one needs to be on the field for 1 minute; a full 60 seconds is enough to finish a quick battle.

Ash does not intend to let Mewtwo act as a meat shield to stall, so enhancing this trait is a must!

His gaze moved downward,

Ash looked at the next layer of enhancement effects and enhancement tasks.

【Trait】: Pressure 3 (gives opponent pressure, small chance to make opponent flinch; every 10 seconds reduces opponent's all stats by 1)

【Enhancement Task】: Defeat Kaluno or Zufuqi Da Wu's Champion-level Psychic-type Pokémon;

As long as you defeat Steven's Champion-level Pokémon once,

you can get a full sixfold increase, which is definitely not small!

This victory, Ash is determined to win!

"I've done everything I promised you, come on Ash! Let you and Mewtwo witness my bond with Metagross!"

In the spectator seats, Clemont's eyes lit up, "It's ignited!"

"The showdown between Ash and the Champion! I'm really looking forward to it!" Serena and Yurie clasped hands.

"The sparkle of diamond, become a bond!"

Steven took off the Mega Evolution Stone-made pin from his chest, and lightly sniffed it at the tip of his nose.

Suddenly, golden light flowed, and suddenly flashed from the Mega Evolution Key Stone,

At the same time, the Metagross Evolution Stone bound to the front limbs of the Shiny Metagross also flashed with a dazzling luster,

The strong light, like mutually attracting magnetic fields, enveloped the Metagross and the space before Steven,

From afar, countless streams of energy continuously shot from that chest pin key stone in Steven's hand, finally converging onto the Metagross.

"Mega Evolve! Metagross!!!"

Unlike the soft, dazzling white light of normal evolution; the Mega Evolution light is intense and glaring, moreover flashing with seven colors, like the rainbow left by Ho-Oh flying past.

In the light, the Shiny Metagross's body rapidly expanded, its original limbs pointing downward, only about one-quarter the thickness of its body.

After Mega Evolution, the Shiny Mega Metagross's limbs are as thick as one-half, its length can reach twice the original, and its large golden claws flash with a chilling metallic texture.

It gives the feeling that being hit by a fist would surely crush one into meat paste.

Faced with such a miraculous Shiny Mega Metagross, the excitement on Clemont's, Serena's, and Yurie's faces overflowed.

"Wow, amazing, a Shiny Mega Metagross, and this is the first time I've seen one in person!"

Steven's heart burned with fighting spirit; this battle! He will not lose easily!

"Come on, Ash, let's have a good match!"

"Good!"

Knowing that after Mega Evolution, the Shiny Metagross's base stats have risen to 700,

Although he had a level advantage, Ash also did not underestimate him, opening with a double-effective Ghost-type move.

"Mewtwo, Shadow Ball!"

"Metagross, Meteor Mash!"

Mewtwo is a Psychic-type Pokémon, Shadow Ball is a Ghost-type move, so it does not receive same-type damage boost.

Meteor Mash, as a Steel-type physical attack, combined with Mega Metagross's 145 Attack, plus a 1.5x same-type damage boost.

Comparing the two,

Steven's confidence in this strike grew, almost certain to win!

However,

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment,

When the two attacks collided, what happened before his eyes was completely beyond Steven's expectation,

Shadow Ball surged forward, absolutely crushing and suppressing Mega Metagross's Meteor Mash!

The Shiny Mega Metagross, like a kite with its string cut, flew backward and instantly exited the Mega Evolved state.

Instant KO!

Steven stared wide-eyed in disbelief, unable to believe this was really happening.

With such a huge gap, why did I even bother with all that Mega Evolution trouble?

Serena, having fortunately witnessed Ash and Mewtwo traveling together and braving a big adventure across regions to buy cold drinks, reacted relatively well.

But... Clemont and Yurie, who were unaware, still felt Mewtwo's power directly for the first time.

Glug~

Clemont silently swallowed his saliva, unable to believe that even the Champion's ace, in front of Ash, was only destined to be instantly killed.

Yurie's eyes widened like bronze bells, and she opened her small mouth into an O shape.

A system prompt rang in Ash's ear.

【Mission completed……】